Turkey PM ‘scores hat trick’ in pre-election match

ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan scored an improbable three goals in just 15 minutes as he took to the field in a football friendly to mark the opening of a new stadium in Istanbul. Erdogan is standing in presidential elections on August 10 and made sure no one forgot his candidacy during the game by wearing the shirt number 12—if elected he would be the 12th president of modern Turkey. The 60-year-old prime minister, an avid football fan who played as an amateur in his youth, took part in a match to mark the opening of the new stadium of the Istanbul Basaksehir team.